The Loss Hypothesis
by starfish001
Summary: Penny suffers a loss and it raises some strong feelings in the group. Angst, rated M for potential sauciness and slightly adult themes. My second attempt at fanfic. As before, reviews very much appreciated! Now with a teeny epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these guys, unfortunately.

* * *

Leonard gazed at Penny over the two small candles on the table. The restaurant was busy, but he was oblivious to the other patrons; his head was still whirling from the fact the _she_ had asked _him_ to dinner. Things had been a little weird between them lately…could this be why? Was she finally starting to see him the way he saw her?

He was brought out of his reverie when she gently took his hand across the table. "Leonard, there's something we need to talk about…something I need to tell you."

He looked at her, trying to guess at what was to come. He felt like someone had grabbed a big handful of his insides and was _twisting_. He willed her to continue, if only to put him out of his misery.

Suddenly though, Penny's eyes widened and she let out a small noise of surprise. "Oh!" Then; "Oh my God! Leonard!" She had gone ghostly pale, and clutched at her stomach. She started to rise from the chair, looking confused and scared, clearly in pain. No sooner was she upright though than she was falling to the floor, unconscious. Leonard stood, then froze, looking at the pool of blood spreading beneath her. He was dimly aware of a waiter calling an ambulance in the background, but it was as though he was a million miles away. The woman he loved was bleeding, and all he could do was stand helplessly and watch.

…

He was stood outside the hospital when Sheldon and Raj appeared. He had called them from the car as he followed the ambulance, and Raj had collected Sheldon on the way. Howard was out of town, but he had left a message for him to ring when he got it.

"What's happening?" Raj looked concerned. Sheldon looked…distant. But then, Sheldon always looked distant when there was the prospect of an emotional female on the horizon. Leonard wasn't in any mood to babysit him tonight though.

"I don't know. We were having dinner and then she just collapsed. There was…blood…" He blanched at the memory of it. "The doctors are in with her now."

Sheldon raised an eyebrow. "Blood? Was she injured?"

Leonard scrubbed his face with his hands and shook his head. "No, I think it was coming from…y'know…down _there_".

The other two suddenly froze. Sheldon's face twitched slightly. "Um, should we really be here?" Raj asked.

"Of course we should! We're her friends!" Leonard exclaimed. "Come on, I'm going back up." Raj went to follow him, but Sheldon hung back.

"I will wait in the car. Please give me your keys, Leonard."

Leonard stared at him. "What? You're not coming up? Why not?"

"Because I do not wish to. Keys, please."

"Ok, fine. Here." he barked. He threw the keys at the other man. "I don't have time for your crap tonight, Sheldon. Someone I – _we_ - care about a great deal is hurt and might be seriously ill, and you can't even get over your…your _Sheldonness_ for one night to see if she's ok. Geez. This is a new low for you, seriously." With that, he stormed off up the stairs. Raj looked at Sheldon and shrugged, "He's right you know, Dude."

Then he was alone.

Upstairs, Leonard found a harried looking nurse and asked what was happening. "Are you her partner?" she asked. "Um, yeah" Leonard found himself lying. The nurse took him to the relative's room and they sat down. She looked like she was trying to find the right words to say something, and for a horrific moment Leonard expected to hear the worst; that Penny had died. He felt himself fighting back panic. Instead though, the nurse took his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm very sorry, sir_. _We did everything we could, but I'm afraid your partner has lost the baby."


	2. Chapter 2

For a minute all Leonard could hear was the rushing of blood in his ears. Baby? _Penny_?

"What…what happened?" He managed to croak. The nurse looked at him sympathetically. He realised she assumed he had been the father. "We're not sure right now, it seems the pregnancy may have been ectopic. The baby was growing in her fallopian tube, and it caused some bleeding. You can see her now, if you like?"

Leonard tried to digest what she'd said. "Um, could I have a few minutes, please?" The nurse nodded then left him. Raj crept in shortly after.

"Dude, what's happening?"

Leonard shook his head. "I think I'm having a nightmare…"

A few minutes later and Leonard knocked on Penny's door before sticking his head in. "Um, are you up to visitors?" Penny was sat up slightly in bed, looking exhausted and pale, hooked up to various drips and machines. She nodded at him to come in.

"Hey." "Hey."

"Are you ok? You scared the hell out of me. Us."

Penny gave him a small smile. "Sorry. I'm ok, really." Her voice was hoarse, and her eyes were red and gave away the fact that she'd been crying. He decided not to mention it. It would be weird if she _hadn't_ been crying. He took her hand and she squeezed it weakly.

"Did they tell you what happened?" she asked, not looking at him. "Yeah" he replied, looking at their entwined hands.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was going to, actually. Tonight."

Leonard's heart sank. So, not a declaration of undying love, then. Penny had asked him out to tell him she was pregnant with another man's child. "That's ok…it's not really any of my business anyway…"

Penny sniffed back a few more tears. She still couldn't meet his eyes. "I'm sorry, Leonard. I do care for you. But…"

"Hey, it's ok, really…you don't have to explain. I _know_." He managed a half smile at her. He didn't want her to feel bad after everything she'd been through. He bit back the question he was dying to ask. _Who's the father? _Really, _not_ appropriate right now. He found himself running through possibilities in his head though, and coming up pretty short. Come to think of it, there hadn't really been many awkward moments in the corridor recently; it used to be he'd often be leaving for work as Penny was waving off her latest suitor, but it had been pretty quiet for a while now.

"Um. Anyway, I'd better let you rest before the nurses come and kick my ass…I just wanted to…y'know. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Ok Leonard. Thanks…you're a good friend."

He started to walk away, then stopped, turned back and gave her a quick, embarrassed kiss on the cheek. Eyes down, he said "I'm glad you're ok. And I'm sorry about…everything." She smiled, squeezed his hand. Whispered a small _thanks_ as another tear slid down her cheek.

Yep. Always the good friend, he thought as he left. He reached the car park and expected to see Sheldon in the car, waiting for him. He was going to apologise for shouting at him; he knew how these situations made him feel, he shouldn't be so hard on him. And he really needed to talk to someone about this, even if it was Dr Whack-a-Doodle. But Sheldon wasn't there, the car park was empty. There was a note on his windscreen: _Your keys are at reception. The codeword is my favourite amino acid. Dr Sheldon Cooper. _

Bat-crap crazy.

...

Sheldon stood in the foyer behind a large plastic plant and watched Leonard get the keys from the receptionist. She didn't even ask him for the code word; he would be writing a harshly worded letter to the hospital managers about the ability of their employees to follow simple instructions. He waited until Leonard had left, then headed upstairs. He located Penny's room easily, knocked softly.

_Knockknockknock__… "Penny"_

_Knockknockknock__… "Penny"_

_Knockknockknock__… "Penny"_

He heard the tired smile in her voice. "Come on in, Sheldon."

He opened the door, and felt a little shocked at how weak and vulnerable she looked. So different to the vibrant woman he was used to. He stood by the bed and, tentatively, reached out and placed his hand on hers. She looked up at him. He was looking at her so tenderly, so concerned, she felt herself start to cry again. Hot, silent tears ran down her face.

"Sheldon…I'm so, so sorry."

He looked pained. "Penny, please. You have nothing to apologise for."

She cried harder. "But I do, I really do. I'm sorry. I lost the baby, Sheldon. _I lost our baby."_


	3. Chapter 3

**9**** weeks previously….**

"I don't care if she stripped naked, oiled herself up and begged you for it, Josh! I thought we were serious!"

Sheldon winced slightly as he heard Penny scream at her latest meat-headed and apparently adulterous boyfriend across the corridor. He began the meticulous process of closing his applications and shutting down the laptop. This was a familiar routine; unfortunately Leonard was at a conference and so Sheldon would take the brunt of the _'why are men such bastards?'_ speech alone.

"Just get out! You cheating _bastard_. I hate you!"

***SLAM***

Exactly 8 minutes later Penny burst into the guys' apartment. Sheldon let her rant for a few minutes as he pulled out some glasses for the vodka she had brought with her. As much as he had promised his mother he wouldn't take drugs, he found listening to an inebriated Penny quite difficult without the alcohol as a social lubricant. Offering support in times of emotional distress did not come easily to him, but the alternative – instructing Penny to leave until Leonard returned – had proved impracticable based on several prior experiments. She would only return in the early hours of the morning and come into his bedroom – knowing full well his rules on people being in his bedroom – and persist in talking to him as he tried to sleep. Better to get it over with now.

On a purely logical level, Sheldon could appreciate Penny's attractiveness. Her facial symmetry and perfect hip to waist ratio made her a very desirable female from a biological standpoint. What he could not comprehend was her insistence on dating men who had an IQ lower than mud and who inevitably behaved inexcusably towards her. His previous experiments had also revealed that attempts to elicit the reason for this were not always appreciated, and had resulted in her becoming curiously angry and occasionally violent with him. Leonard had tried to explain to him that no one liked to have their faults pointed out to them, particularly when distressed, but then how did they ever expect to be able to change?

He was aware that as he had been contemplating these things, Penny had appeared to have burnt herself out of her rage and was slumped on the sofa crying. He noted though, that even in her distress she had avoided sitting in his spot. The observation made him feel a little funny, and he filed away the information for further study later.

He sat next to her and handed her a drink containing exactly twice the amount of alcohol his own contained. She downed it in one go. Anticipating this he had brought the bottle over, and refilled her glass as she held it out. He took a quick sip of his own and winced at the taste (how did people find this pleasurable? he wondered). To his surprise, Penny suddenly lent over and rested her head on his shoulder. To his even greater surprise, he found he didn't mind. His brain worked overtime as he ran through his list of socially acceptable things to say in these situations, before settling on one that seemed appropriate.

"You know, he didn't deserve you, Penny."

He realised it wasn't just a meaningless platitude; he meant it. Penny must have picked up on that fact, because she pulled back so she could scrutinize his face. He pulled back slightly so he could keep her in focus. Even blurry, she was beautiful. She sniffed and wiped a hand across her puffy eyes. "Sheldon…are you drunk?"

"Drunk? Not at all…Well, I believe I may be categorised as slightly 'tipsy'. But I remain fully in control of my faculties."

She appeared to have finished appraising him.

"Good."

She grabbed the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair, then pulled him into her as she pressed her lips against his.

…

Something was very wrong. Every morning Sheldon could ever remember, he had woken staring at the ceiling. Alone.

This was not presently the case.

He lay completely still as he evaluated the situation. His arm was draped over a warm body with a mass of blonde hair, which all available evidence suggested was Penny. He couldn't see her face, however, as they were lying in what he believed was referred to as the 'spoons' position.

Her hair smelt of oranges and tickled his nose.

He glanced at his alarm clock. It was 0635. He would be missing Dr Who. Penny stirred against him, and a part of him stirred against her in response, and then she sleepily pressed back against him_…_ and he decided maybe some things were worth missing Dr Who for.

Well…he had it set to TiVo, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**4 w****eeks earlier…**

Penny thought back to that first night. She had woken the next morning with Sheldon's hand gently cupping her breast and his lips teasing a sensitive spot on her neck. After a brief debate with herself over the prudence of allowing him to continue, she decided that it was really a bit late to be having second thoughts and anyway, it felt really, _amazingly_ good.

After that, things were, well…a bit odd. Not unpleasant, but definitely strange. She certainly wasn't ready for another relationship yet, but Sheldon didn't seem too bothered by that. It had happened again, a few times now; the first couple at her instigation when she had been feeling down (ironically about her lack of a love life) but lately he had been coming over to her apartment when the other guys were out. There wasn't much talk, and they never mentioned it outside the situation; in fact they pretty much continued as normal, with none of the anticipated awkwardness. She guessed he was just good at compartmentalising his life. Although, looking back, she did get the impression that he was trying to be a bit nicer to her, or at least a bit less thoughtless with her. She was beginning to worry that the others (or rather, Leonard) would notice and put two and two together; she didn't want to have _that_ conversation until she had figured out herself what the Hell was happening. After wrestling with it for a while she settled on thinking of it as 'friends with benefits' and decided to just go with it. She had never really expected _any_ kind of relationship with Sheldon Cooper to be conventional.

But now, things had suddenly gotten complicated. _Massively_ so. After that first drunken, irresponsible night (when she had assured him she was on the pill, and he didn't need to worry…hah) they had been using condoms; a sober Sheldon was a mass of STD neurosis without them, despite her reassurances. She had been using them with Josh religiously; luckily, since her instincts had proven to be right, the cheating little toad.

So the little white stick with the two blue lines – or to be honest, the fourth little white stick – could only mean one thing. She was pregnant with Sheldon's baby. The thought, once more, made her feel light-headed. Although, oddly, it didn't fill her with the horror she would have expected. She wasn't religious, but the idea of _not_ having this baby just wasn't an option for her. She had *no clue* how this was going to go down with a man who couldn't even seem to think outside his routines, let alone act outside them. But then, she had never actually expected that he would be capable of forming a functioning sexual relationship with anyone, so maybe he would surprise her.

_Then_ she would worry about telling Leonard.


	5. Chapter 5

**3 weeks ****earlier….**

Penny waited until she heard Leonard, Raj and Howard leave the apartment, arguing over which film they would see now that Sheldon had stopped being anal and agreed to stay home. She knocked gently on the door then let herself in. Sheldon was sat at his computer, but gave her a small smile when she came in. When had he started smiling at her like that?

"Good evening Penny. Are you well?" he turned back to the screen and started closing his applications down.

Oh, God, she thought. She knew subtlety would be lost on him; direct was always the way to go with Sheldon. _Here goes_, she thought.

"Erm, not really, Sheldon. I'm pregnant."

His head whipped round and he stared at her. _"What?"_

She suddenly felt panicky, and the tension of the last week threatened to overwhelm her. The words spilled out. "Sheldon, I'm pregnant. It's yours – yes, I've done the math - and I really hope you'll support me because I want to have this baby. I mean, I'll do it without you if I have to, but I think kids need both parents at least…around…even if you and me aren't, y'know…but I'm not going to get rid of it no matter what you say. So…what do you think?"

She stopped, waiting for his reaction, fully expecting him to start hyperventilating and half scanning the apartment for paper bags.

"Oh, my." He stared off into the distance.

She frowned at him. "What, that's it?" She wasn't actually prepared for anything other than a diatribe about how important his work was and how impossible it was for him to have a child right now. Actually, she had pretty much unfairly prejudged him, she realised. After all, he had taken her at face value that she _was_ pregnant and it _was_ his. She silently thanked him for not being a dick about it. Yet.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?"

Penny nodded at him dumbly. Sheldon dashed into his bedroom and emerged a few minutes later with a shoebox. He came and sat next to her, his long fingers moving over the lid of the box as he sat in silence for a minute. Finally, Penny broke.

"For God's sake, Sheldon, say something! Please?"

He didn't look at her.

"You are aware, of course, that I write to Memaw regularly." It was a statement, not a question, but Penny nodded anyway. "Yes, Sheldon, I am. But what has that got to do with…?" "Please, Penny, allow me to finish." he interrupted.

"Several years ago, I wrote her a letter in which I documented the opinions of numerous 'friends' regarding my apparent inability to find a romantic partner. Of course, I didn't consider it any kind of failure since it was not something I had ever attempted to do. However, these 'friends' did not interpret it in this way and instead preferred to cast aspersions on my future chances of finding a mate and subsequently procreating. In the interests of attempting to gain a balanced perspective, I asked Memaw if she thought I would ever find someone… willing…to carry my child. This is what I received in response."

Penny felt her heart break a little. They all made jokes about Sheldon's 'deal', and maybe sometimes forgot there was an actual person under that whack-a-doodle crust. But he had actually written to his Memaw to ask if she thought someone would ever love him? That was gut wrenching.

"Ok, sweetie…so what is it?"

He still hadn't looked at her. If she hadn't known better, she might have said he was…embarrassed? He sighed a little, then took the lid off the box and gingerly held up the contents.

It was a babygrow.

Emblazoned across the front of the tiny white outfit in big, blue letters were the words:

"_My Daddy's a Rocket Scientist__!"_

Through eyes damp with tears, she looked from it to him, and saw he was smiling to himself. She reached out and took his hand, then lent over and kissed him on the cheek. He squeezed her hand, then looked up and gave her a small, but undeniably happy grin.


	6. Chapter 6

**The p****resent**

Penny thought back to how sweet Sheldon had been over the last few weeks. She had made him promise that he wouldn't say anything to Leonard until she had spoken to him first, so they were having to be careful around each other. It was far too soon to be buying baby stuff, but he was definitely making more of an effort with her. His research into pregnancy vitamins was getting a little obsessive, however, and she was pretty sure she was going to start rattling soon if he didn't stop plying her with pills.

The decision of when to tell Leonard had been pretty much taken out of her hands when she started running out of excuses as to why she couldn't drink. He was starting to get worried about her, particularly when he heard her turn down a night out dancing with the girls. Wary of his reaction, she had taken the cowards way out; telling him in the restaurant might hopefully avoid a huge scene. It was only as she sat opposite him that she realised she might have given him completely the wrong idea. Crap. Damn hormones were throwing her off her game.

And then there had been the pain, and the blood, and the loss. She had never realised how attached you could get to something you had never actually seen. It made no difference that it hadn't been planned; it was _wanted_. And it was missed.

It was the night after she had been released from the hospital. She had been told to rest, but had got bored of being in bed so had moved to the sofa wrapped in a blanket. Sheldon had came over before work and had held her awkwardly as she cried some more. Her hormones were still all over the place. He was being very quiet about it all. She hadn't really thought about what would happen next. She was trying not to.

There was a knock at the door and Leonard stuck his head round. "Hey, can I come in? I brought ice cream…"

She managed a smile. "Well in that case, how can I refuse?"

He grabbed some spoons and they sat and ate straight from the tub for a while. Leonard talked about work and the new experiment he was working on that he was sure would finally yield some positive results. She could tell he was thinking of something else though, and finally she decided to stop dancing about the topic.

"Leonard, I need to tell you something."

He suddenly looked as though he very much didn't want to hear it.

"Ok…I mean, if you're sure you want to? 'Cause, you don't have to…none of this is any of my business…"

She turned to face him. "Yes, sweetie. It kinda is. I'm really sorry if I ever led you on about the chances of us working out. I mean, I love you. I really do." His face flushed and he couldn't meet her eyes. "But…it's not the right kind of love, y'know?"

He shrugged. "I know, I guess. It's just…you're really great, and I really hoped for a while there…but I know it's not gonna happen. It's ok." He managed a small smile at her.

Ok, she thought. Half way there. Plough on, girl, let's get this over with.

"Ok, good. There's something else though. It might be a bit of a shock." He looked up at her inquisitively. She took a deep breath. "Sweetie…the baby. It was Sheldon's."

She found she could watch the emotions flit across his face as if on a projector. Confusion, then disbelief. She saw him start to smile and look for a webcam. Then he looked at her face and saw she was serious. There was a brief flash of anger, which was quickly replaced by…nothing. Blankness.

That probably wasn't good.

"Sweetie? Are you ok?"

He stood up abruptly. "I'm fine. I gotta go. Goodnight, Penny."

He stalked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. She started crying again as she watched him leave. She hoped Sheldon could handle whatever was coming next.


	7. Chapter 7

Sheldon was stood in front of his board. He had been staring at it for about an hour and nothing was resolving itself. He barely heard the front door open.

So when Leonard tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped. He turned around quickly, then froze when he saw the look on Leonard's face.

"Leonard. I take it you have spoken to Pen…"

He never got to finish the sentence, because that was when Leonard punched him.

…

Sheldon had disappeared into his bedroom without a word to tend his rapidly swelling eye, and Leonard was sat nursing his bruised hand. It never looked this painful in the movies, surely it was meant to hurt the other guy more? The initial rush of adrenaline that had driven him to hit his best friend in anger at stealing his non-existent girlfriend had faded quickly. He felt stupid. He still felt angry, but now the earlier confusion and disbelief were making a strong comeback. Penny and Sheldon? How? The whole idea was just insane. He needed to talk to Sheldon.

He knocked on his bedroom door. There was no answer, but he let himself in anyway. Sheldon was not lying in his customary position. Contrary to all evolutionary principles, he was lying on his side with his back to the door. This was clearly serious.

"Um, Sheldon? Are you awake?"

Sheldon didn't move. "If you are planning to hit me again, Leonard, can I request that you do so on the opposite side of my face, so that at least my bruising will be symmetrical?" He sounded defeated, his voice heavy.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon. I shouldn't have hit you. But I was pretty mad at you! Why didn't you tell me about you and Penny?"

"It was not my decision alone to make. I had to consider Penny's feelings on the matter." He still didn't move to face the other man.

"Oh." Sheldon? Considering another persons feelings? He listened hard to see if he could hear the theme to The Twilight Zone playing in the background. He tried to creep around the bed to get a view of Sheldon's face without the other man noticing. In the dim light from the corridor he could just make out Sheldon's hands clasping something. He squinted. It was white fabric, and looked…fuzzy? Something about the object sent some neurons firing, and something suddenly occurred to him. "So...erm, are you ok? With the…baby… thing?"

There was silence for a minute. Just as Leonard had given up on getting an answer, Sheldon spoke. His voice was flat.

"You know, at this stage of development, the gender of the foetus would have been indeterminate. The fingers and toes would have been developing, however. Fingers grow faster than toes, for some reason."

Leonard felt a little lump raise in his throat. "Erm. Ok? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Leonard started to say something else, then changed his mind. He left, shutting the door softly behind him.

…

Sheldon lay holding the babygrow. He felt ridiculous at being emotional over such a situation. He tried to rationalise his feelings; after all, a certain amount of disappointment was to be expected over the lost opportunity to give the world another child prodigy. Of course, there was a chance the child would have ended up like Penny, which should have been a cause for anxiety; he remembered expressing concern to Leonard about being unable to love a child who didn't know how to solve the area under a curve. But instead, the thought of his offspring resembling Penny made him feel...good. After all, he loved her, he could love their child.

Oh.

The knowledge was just there, in his head. There was no experiment, no variables, no analysis; just the absolute knowledge that he loved Penny. He frowned to himself in the dark. He wasn't quite sure when that had happened, or what to do with the information. Certainly, he couldn't act on it; Leonard had made it clear that his actions so far had caused him distress, and Leonard was his best friend. Without him there would only be Howard and Raj, and he did not find that idea satisfactory. Avoidance would appear to be the best tactic.

Avoid Penny, avoid the problem.


	8. Chapter 8

Leonard had been hoping that everything would now go back to normal, that he could once again live in a world where friends didn't get friends pregnant and other friends didn't hit them. For one thing, his hand was still bruised. Instead, Sheldon spent every night hiding in his room and Penny hadn't been over for nearly a week. He knew she had recovered physically, but he could tell there was something else she was missing. Finally, he snapped.

He waited until Sheldon had ventured from his room to collect his take out one night, then planted himself in the corridor preventing his retreat.

Sheldon looked irritated. "May I pass, please, Leonard? My dinner was already less than satisfactorily heated and I have no desire to eat cold Thai food."

"Nope. I'm sick of this, Sheldon. You and me, dancing around each other. You and Penny…whatever it is you're doing right now. You need to fix this."

"Oh? And how do you propose I do that, Leonard? Please, if you are aware of a way in which I can resolve this situation without inadvertently damaging our friendship any more then I would be very interested to hear it. Because the way I see it, _any_ kind of relationship I have with Penny now is going to cause you distress given your knowledge of our previous…interactions."

Ok, so Sheldon was avoiding Penny out of some desire not to hurt him? Leonard was shocked. And felt a bit guilty, actually. He knew Penny needed a kind of support he just couldn't give her right now, but could he really be ok with her and Sheldon? He knew the answer as soon as he asked. _The things I do for love_, he thought.

"I don't care, Sheldon! If you and Penny want to continue to be…whatever…then please, just get on with it! I'd rather you didn't rub my nose in it, but Penny has made it very clear that any chance of me and her working out has long since gone and I'm getting sick of everyone being miserable! At least one of us should be able to be happy. And, I'll get over it…I'm sure…"

Sheldon inclined his head at him and sounded surprised. "Do you really mean that?"

He didn't, really, but it would almost be worth the pain for the entertainment value of watching Sheldon trying to navigate an actual relationship.

"Yes. Just, please…keep the PDA's to a minimum when I'm about, ok?"

Sheldon's eyebrows knitted. "'PDA's'? Leonard, what on earth does Phase Doppler Anemometry have to do with any of this?"

Leonard reached out and grabbed the rapidly cooling Thai food from Sheldon's grasp.

"Go. Now. Please. Before I bruise my other hand."


	9. Chapter 9

_Knockknockknock….."Penny"._

_Knockknockknock….."Penny"._

_Knockknockknock….."Penny"._

Penny thought she was dreaming, at first. She hadn't seen Sheldon since the morning after she got out of hospital and had interpreted it as the end of their…well, whatever it had been. She wasn't really surprised. Things had gotten way more intense than she had ever imagined and he was so _new_ at this stuff. She figured he was probably having trouble dealing with it. So she gave him some space to figure it out.

She realised the knocking had stopped, but she could hear him shuffling outside, could almost picture him raising his hand to start another round.

"Come on in, Sheldon" she called from the sofa. She had pretty much not moved since she had seen him last, actually. She was surrounded by the debris of a week's supply of chocolate, wine and ice cream. Still, she couldn't help but smile at the look of horror on his face when he saw it.

"Penny, I came to tell you _oh my word what __**have**__ you been doing?"_

"Nothing, Sheldon, I just haven't felt much like tidying this week." She tried to glare at him pointedly but he continued to survey the wreckage of her living room.

"Well it's a good job I came over then, since you apparently don't care about the risk of vermin infestation and subsequent spread of disease you have created." He walked to her sink and pulled on her pink rubber gloves, then began clearing up around her.

She smiled as he she watched him clean, then sat up so he could squeeze his long frame onto the sofa beside her. "Finished?" she asked him. "For now." "Good. So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh. Well, I wished to gauge your reaction to the possibility of recommencing our prior relationship." He saw a flash of surprise and doubt cross her face and added "Leonard has signalled his acceptance of such a relationship."

Penny went red. "Oh, so you guy's have been talking about this, then?"

"Not exactly. Apparently he could see that I was unhappy without your company, and decided that my misery was unacceptable to him." Sheldon looked a little uncertain about this.

"You…were unhappy without me?" Penny thought she must have misheard.

"Well, yes. I love you, Penny. I believe distress at a loss of proximity to a loved one is a normal reaction. As is distress at the loss of a child, or even potential child." He reached out and placed his hand on hers. "I'm sorry I was not here to…help."

Penny's mind whirled as she tried to take in everything he had just said.

He loved her.

He had missed her.

He was upset about the baby.

Three _feelings_ from Sheldon - the emotionless, logical, analytical scientist - all in one sentence.

She gaped at him for a minute, and then threw herself onto him. She straddled him and caught him in a bear hug, burying her face in his hair so he couldn't see her crying and misinterpret it. He made an 'umphh' noise as she crushed the air out of his lungs. His hands rested lightly on her hips, his thumbs lightly caressing the bare skin above her pyjama bottoms. Then she pulled back and quickly pressed her mouth against his, kissing him desperately at first, then slowly and deeply as he responded. His hand went to her hair, brushing it back away from her face and tucking it behind her ear, then burying his hand in the golden mass at the back of her head. The fingers of his other hand were gently tracing patterns under the elastic of her bottoms.

He pulled back, trying to breathe. "Are you sure about this, Penny…?"

"Shut up, sweetie" Penny grinned at him and gently bit his bottom lip.

He took that as a yes. He stood up, taking her with him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Still kissing her, he manoeuvred them to her bed.

She could tell he was trying to be gentle with her, and she loved him for it. He fumbled with the buttons on her pyjamas then kissed his way down her exposed flesh, from her neck down to her belly button. She reached down and pulled his multiple t shirts off over his head. She had always loved his lean frame, and particularly his taut forearms and long, dextrous fingers. He pulled off her pyjama bottoms, covering the inside of her thigh with tiny kisses, then came back up to kiss her as he delicately teased her with those incredible fingers, making her gasp. She could feel him hard against her leg and loved how turned on he was by doing this to her. He kissed along her jaw and down to the sensitive spot on her neck, nibbling it as he had that first morning. Her hips were moving of their own accord, encouraging him on. Her hands reached out to his belt, undoing it breathlessly. Just as she was about to peak she felt the last barrier of clothing between them disappear, and he was poised over her, his eyes asking a question. She kissed him her assent, and then he was inside her. She watched him as he buried himself inside her, the look of bliss on his face making her feel almost superhuman. He kept the rhythm slow and gentle, still scared of breaking her. It was too much for her to bear and she came hard, hands clawing at his back. Finally he lost himself in the moment and thrust harder, moving one hand to her hip to hold her beneath him. Panting hard, he croaked her name. "_Oh…Penny_…"

He collapsed on top of her, kissed her neck. She reached down, pulled his chin up so he was looking her in the eye.

"_I love you too, sweetie. Thank you."_

_**One year later**_

The shop assistant glanced up and smiled at the young couple. The girl was stunning, long blonde hair and a definite glow about her. The man was tall and dark, and looked exhausted. But the assistant saw how he looked at the girl when she wasn't watching, and wished she had someone to look at her like that. Strapped to the mans chest was a baby sling, and she strained to get a look at the tiny bundle within. It was clearly a girl, with a soft mop of dark brown hair clipped with a little pink flower. She could just about make out the writing on the front of the baby grow:

"_My Daddy's a Rocket Scientist!"_


	10. Epilogue

A/N: Just a teeny bit of fluff that occured to me after reading a review by chraleylove...it's not exactly a sequel but the idea tickled me, so I wrote it...

* * *

Epilogue: 4 years on

"_Marie Cooper…"_

The little girl lifted her head at the sound of her teachers voice, picked up her homework assignment and walked to the front of the class. Her dark glossy plaits were faultlessly symmetrical and the penny blossom in her hair perfectly matched the yellow of her dress.

"For my homework I have wrote about my family. My Mummy is very pretty. She is an actress and she is on the TV on a show called Two and an Half Men. My Daddy says this is in…in…in-ane clap-trap that appeals to the ...the...lowest com-mon den-onminator but that I mustn't tell Mummy because it makes her happy and besides she would hurt Daddy junior rodeo-style. Daddy is a genius and a particle phys…phys…he is a rocket scientist but I can't call him that because he isn't really and it makes him go funny. Daddy might be getting a nobbly prize for untying some string and Mummy says if he doesn't get it it is because the judges are Jackasses. Sometimes Uncle Raj and Uncle Leonard come and visit but Uncle Howard isn't allowed anymore because he said rude things to Mummy and she Put Her Foot Down, so now Daddy just talks to him at work. Uncle Raj has a new girlfriend, she is my Aunty Missy which is confusing but he can talk to her which is good. My Daddy had some Stern Words with Uncle Raj but Aunty Missy had Stern Words with Daddy and made him walk funny and now it's ok. Uncle Leonard is getting married to a lady called Doctor Stephanie soon and I am going to be a flower girl in a pretty dress. My Daddy thinks getting married is silly but Mummy told him it was a non opt…opt-ional social con-ven-tion and now they are getting married too. Mummy says it will have to be soon because soon she will be too big for her dress because she has my little brother in her tummy. I hope he will be very smart like Daddy because then maybe Daddy will stop trying to teach me how to figure out under curve stuff. I know Daddy loves me though because he lets me sit in his special chair that even Mummy can't sit in. The end."

"Thank you, Marie. That was very...informative. You can sit down."


End file.
